3 ms·

If the US is no longer able to create nuclear power stations the reason for the failure is to be found in the regulatory overload, not in the technical ability.

If the US is no longer able to create nuclear power stations the reason for the failure is to be found in the regulatory overload, not in the technical ability. The solution therefore is to prune the regulators, not in building new gas-firing plants to replace nuclear power stations whose life can be extended while saving billions of dollars while keeping emissions at the same (very low) level as they've done since they were put on-line. Here in Europe eyes seem to have been wrenched open and the resistance against nuclear power is being seen for what it is by many, a form of Luddism which is partly pushed by fossil fuel industries. Several countries - the Netherlands and the UK among them - are now planning to build new nuclear power stations. France seems to have been saved from the brink of switching their mostly nuclear power fleet to non-nuclear and is now planning to continue its reliance on nuclear power. Then there is Germany, the black sheep (probably due to it grazing next to a coal-fired power station) of Europe where 'die Grüne' (the Green party) and their ideological allies have managed to increase Germany's emissions substantially by forcing the closure of all nuclear power stations. Germany is one of the better examples on how not to manage power production and distribution.

mandevil 4y ago
Europe seems to have the exact same problems with building nuclear power plants that the US does, which suggests that the problem is not with individual regulators who need to be replaced. Consulting the current list of nuclear power plants under construction around the world by a pro-nuclear power agency here: https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-future-generation/plans-for-new-reactors-worldwide.aspx https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-fu... I see the following as the only ones still under construction in all of Europe (not counting Belarus and Russia): 1) Mochovce 3 in Slovakia. Construction started November 2008, originally scheduled to complete in 2012, now hopefully complete later this year, so 15 years total, 10 years late. 2) Flamenville 3 in France. Construction started in 2007, originally scheduled to complete in 2012. Hopefully complete in 2023, so 16 years later, 11 years late. 3) Mochovce 4 in Slovakia. Construction started November 2008, original scheduled to complete in 2013, now hopefully complete in 2023, so 16 years total, 10 years late. 4,5) Hinkley Point C1 and C2 in the UK. Construction started in roughly 2008[1], originally expected to be online 2022 or so ("early 2020s" is the best I can find with Google now, and that's for both C1 and C2 to be online). Now C1 is expected to be complete in 2027, and C2 in 2028. So 19-20 years total, 6 years late. (The US has two reactors on the list, Vogtle 3 and 4, started in 2009, originally expected to finish in 2016 and 2017, now expected to finish in 2023.) South Korea has 4 reactors under construction right now (plus two they are building in the UAE). India has 8, China has 19, and Russia has 3 (plus 4 they are building in Turkey, 1 in Belarus, 2 in Bangladesh). Argentina has their first indigenous design under construction- and that appears to be it, as far as nuclear power plant construction goes around the world. One or more of those countries might have things figured out, but whatever problems the US has seem to be happening across the developed world (minus potentially South Korea), which suggests that it really is not a case where firing a few rogue regulators will fix things. [1]: The Hinkley Point story is a complete flustercluck of nonsense.

mandevil 4y ago

Europe seems to have the exact same problems with building nuclear power plants that the US does, which suggests that the problem is not with individual regulators who need to be replaced. Consulting the current list of nuclear power plants under construction around the world by a pro-nuclear power agency here: https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-future-generation/plans-for-new-reactors-worldwide.aspx https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-fu... I see the following as the only ones still under construction in all of Europe (not counting Belarus and Russia): 1) Mochovce 3 in Slovakia. Construction started November 2008, originally scheduled to complete in 2012, now hopefully complete later this year, so 15 years total, 10 years late. 2) Flamenville 3 in France. Construction started in 2007, originally scheduled to complete in 2012. Hopefully complete in 2023, so 16 years later, 11 years late. 3) Mochovce 4 in Slovakia. Construction started November 2008, original scheduled to complete in 2013, now hopefully complete in 2023, so 16 years total, 10 years late. 4,5) Hinkley Point C1 and C2 in the UK. Construction started in roughly 2008[1], originally expected to be online 2022 or so ("early 2020s" is the best I can find with Google now, and that's for both C1 and C2 to be online). Now C1 is expected to be complete in 2027, and C2 in 2028. So 19-20 years total, 6 years late. (The US has two reactors on the list, Vogtle 3 and 4, started in 2009, originally expected to finish in 2016 and 2017, now expected to finish in 2023.) South Korea has 4 reactors under construction right now (plus two they are building in the UAE). India has 8, China has 19, and Russia has 3 (plus 4 they are building in Turkey, 1 in Belarus, 2 in Bangladesh). Argentina has their first indigenous design under construction- and that appears to be it, as far as nuclear power plant construction goes around the world. One or more of those countries might have things figured out, but whatever problems the US has seem to be happening across the developed world (minus potentially South Korea), which suggests that it really is not a case where firing a few rogue regulators will fix things. [1]: The Hinkley Point story is a complete flustercluck of nonsense.